Lawyer warns IRS on tax flap

One of the attorneys who successfully took the Internal Revenue Service to task for controversial rules the agency wanted to impose on tax preparers is warning against the agency looking to Congress for a save.

A federal court in January overturned one of the biggest rules to come out of the IRS in recent years, which would have established a credentialing process for people who prepare tax returns.

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Since the Loving v. IRS decision, lawmakers from both parties have signaled a willingness to support legislation that would expressly give the agency authority to regulate tax preparers.

But speaking Wednesday at a policy lunch sponsored by POLITICO Pro and the American Action Forum, Dan Alban, an attorney for the conservative Institute for Justice, said legislation would be unnecessary.

He noted that Congress has considered such initiatives before but hasn’t been able to get a bill across the finish line.

“None of those bills have ever passed,” he said. “That was one of the bases of our lawsuit, in fact.”

Pam Olson, a Treasury official during the Bush administration who works at PricewaterhouseCoopers, questioned whether the IRS should mandate rules for tax preparers.

But she said the court ruling would throw a monkey wrench intothe tax season that’s just getting under way.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 12:51 p.m. on February 13, 2013.